[VoodooChile]

What are your experiences with deer-browse on Privet (Ligustrum sp.)?

I've been asked to design a 225' hedge to go in front of some 20' Arbs off of which the deer herd has browsed the first 6'. The site is an old farm, with poor dry rocky soil and plenty of wind. Budget is an issue.

The other 2 options I've come up with are Northern Bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) and Sea Green Juniper.

I'm just wondering if offering Privet as an option is worth the risk, because the literature I reference on deer browse all says that Privet is occasionally browsed.

Thanks!

[Greensmith]

My neighbor has a large 100' row of it and it has barely (if at all) been touched. We have a large problem with deer. I have been tempted to test Bayberry since it is usually cheap in price for large shrubs.

[trees]

I've not noticed any significant browsing activity on Ligustrum. The downside to privet is the allergen factor. It's absolutely noxious during peak bloom. The stuff is a major weed in our part of the world (in fact it just got put on the exotic/invasive list for the state) and it KILLS me when in bloom. And it's not just me... look up allergenic plants and Ligustrum is right on top of the list.

I think the bayberry would be a great (maybe better) choice. The little buggers do tend to stay away from scented foliage. We use a lot of M. cerifera (Waxmyrtle) down here, which doesn't have as highly scented foliage as its northern cousin, and I haven't noticed any browse to speak of on it.

[LabourofLove]

I have a client for whom we have installed 80' of privet some 10 years ago. Previous to hiring us, he had some other shrubs installed as perimeter plantings around his house. They are some form of yew - but so unattractive (spell that 'chewed to the main branches') that I cannot identify.

Anyway, the privet has never been touched, and the client has asked for an estimate to replace with perennials so as to offer no food for the deer. Personally, I'd just as soon shoot 'em, but he's in the village, so it's not an option.

[VoodooChile]

I wasn't aware of the allergen issue. This place is secluded, but why plant a nuisance?

Neither Sea Green Junipers nor Northern Bayberry are optimal height-wise...too low and slow to hide the browse, and Bayberry still feels like a gamble to me round here.

Shooting deer, like shooting starlings, would make me feel better, but it seems like for every 1 that goes down, 3 more spring up to take its place.

Deer-browse is a problem that is only going to get worse round here, and the suburbs spring up, and woods and fields disappear.

[LabourofLove]

Yeah, but the difference between shooting deer and shooting starlings is that the deer can go in the freezer - makes me hungry just thinking about it.

I, too, was unaware of the pollen issues. I guess it's not one of my asthma triggers, because we work around it in full bloom all the time.

[TrickyDick]

I've never known anyone who had a bad reaction to privet either. If they're being sheared you'll never have many flowers on them anyway.

[familyguy]

i sneeze something awful whenever i cut privet. but, it is only when there are flowers on them.

older privet with cut shape in them, only a little. if they are new and have flowers, forget it, i am a fountain from the neck up.